Su Shi'er had no idea about what happened afterward.

He was even more unaware that he had already caught someone's attention.

However, being cautious by nature, he ran dozens of miles away in one breath and used an escape talisman before finally stopping.

Glancing at the fiery red flying sword, he saw it was merely a low-grade ritual artifact and didn't pay it any mind.

Then, he channeled a trace of True Essence to inspect the storage bag in his hand.

"I never expected that a mere Qi Refining stage fifth-level disciple from Heavenly Splendor Peak could collect four pieces of second-level materials in just two days!"

"Counting this Xuanqing Ice Lotus, it means I'm only halfway through gathering the materials needed to become an official disciple."

After checking the storage bag of the Heavenly Splendor Peak disciple, he was initially stunned but then showed a look of joy.

Inside the storage bag were four pieces of second-level materials: one spirit plant and three pieces of ironstone. Besides that, there were some personal items of the disciple.

Apart from a few talismans, there seemed to be nothing more valuable.

Just as he was about to stop observing, Su Shi'er's eyebrows twitched as he pulled out a palm-sized sheepskin map.

The map marked several immortal paths and locations. The most prominent was a location marked with a red circle: the Spirit Plant Garden.

"Hmm? Is this the map of the Spirit Plant Garden that Meng Tianyi mentioned back then?"

Su Shi'er's breath hitched as he immediately reacted.

However, after scanning it, he couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated. The map was quite simplistic, with only a few locations and some descriptions marked, lacking any other information.

"I have no idea where I am right now, and none of the places I've passed in recent days match the locations on this map."

"It seems that even if everyone had a copy of this map, it wouldn't necessarily lead them to the Spirit Plant Garden."

"However, Heavenly Splendor Peak has a lot of people. With a thousand people on one peak, even if not everyone has a map, most likely they all know about the Spirit Plant Garden. With so many people, surely a hundred or eighty will find it. No wonder... no wonder Heavenly Splendor Peak is so confident."

Although he vaguely guessed Heavenly Splendor Peak's plan, the map was practically useless, leaving Su Shi'er somewhat disappointed.

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But on second thought, collecting so many spirit materials at the start was also a good thing.

At this rate, he could attempt to break into the top ten within the peak or purchase enough materials to become an official disciple and then choose to go into closed-door cultivation for two months.

In the following days, relying on his Heavenly Eye technique, he darted around and managed to find two more second-level spirit materials.

"This ancient restricted area is truly vast! The sect has really invested heavily to scour materials here! In these ten days, I've searched no less than twenty places, and almost all of them had been preempted by others!"

"However, the Heavenly Eye technique isn't specifically for treasure hunting, and several times it led me to demonic beast lairs. Luckily, I ran fast..."

That day, Su Shi'er used the Heavenly Eye technique, walking briskly through an unknown forest.

Under his gaze, threads of golden spiritual power were emanating from afar.

"Judging by the distribution of golden spiritual power in the air, it must be a gold-attributed material."

Muttering softly, Su Shi'er quickly walked out of the forest and arrived at a small hill.

Seeing two corpses lying on the hill, his pupils contracted, and he instinctively wanted to run.

After taking a few steps back, he stopped and carefully observed.

There were two bodies, one old and one strong.

The strong man lay in a pool of blood, with a sword mark on his neck, clearly killed by a single sword strike. In his hand, he tightly clutched a gold-colored stone the size of a pigeon egg.

In front of him, the old man lay on the ground, holding a low-grade ritual artifact longsword, with three nails embedded in his forehead. On the ground beside him were four nails that seemed to have been knocked off by a flying sword in haste.

"Hmm... If I'm not mistaken, what the strong man is holding should be a top-grade second-level material, Glazed Gold."

"Judging by the situation, the two must have fought over this Glazed Gold. The strong man was no match for his opponent and was killed with a sword to the throat, but before dying, he launched seven iron nails, dragging the old man down with him!"

Su Shi'er silently analyzed, unable to help but sigh inwardly.

Clearly, they were fellow disciples, yet they fought to the death over various materials.

This scene made him deeply feel the harshness of the cultivation world. This was not a trial; it was clearly a life-and-death gladiatorial arena.

Shaking his head helplessly, he immediately stepped forward to collect the treasure.

"They perished together, which benefits me!"

Just as he thought this, his gaze fell on the calloused palm of the strong man, causing Su Shi'er's pupils to contract, and his steps to pause.

"Wait, with such thick calluses, how could this man have used iron nails as a weapon?"

As the thought crossed his mind, Su Shi'er's breath hitched, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

He had already used the Heavenly Eye technique to scan the surroundings and saw no one else.

If he hadn't noticed this detail in time, he might have ended up as another corpse on the ground.

"Who could be so devious?"

Muttering to himself, Su Shi'er continued walking forward with a calm expression.

However, as he approached the two corpses, he suddenly stopped.

Decisively using Object Control, he drew the four scattered iron nails into his sleeve and stored them in his storage bag.

After doing this, he immediately turned to leave.

"Bastard, leave my Soul-Breaking Nails!"

At that moment, an angry, crisp voice rang out.

In the air, accompanied by a wave of spiritual power, a curvaceous, alluring female figure appeared.

As soon as she appeared, the woman flicked her hand, throwing out three flame talismans. Three head-sized fireballs shot through the air, heading straight for Su Shi'er.

"Hmm? There really is someone! And it's her?"

Su Shi'er's pupils contracted sharply as he immediately recognized the person. It was the Chu-named female cultivator who had sold him talismans at the trading plaza six months ago.

"You wicked woman, it's bad enough you tricked me, but now you want to trap me too. Next time we meet, I'll make you pay!"

Su Shi'er glared at her fiercely, cursing angrily.

Six months ago, the top-grade talisman he bought had been swapped, and a Gathering Qi Pill had also disappeared. Besides this woman, he couldn't think of anyone else who would do such a despicable thing.

As he spoke, before the attack could land, he stomped his foot hard, and the Shadowless Phantom Steps activated, lifting him into the air with a gust of wind.

"I'm not a good person? You bastard, you think you're justified in taking my things? Do you think you can escape today?"

The Chu-named female cultivator was also surprised to see Su Shi'er. This kid was still alive? What a joke!

But then, hearing Su Shi'er's words, she was furious, her chest heaving with anger.

She flicked her hand, throwing out three ice spike talismans.

As the talismans activated, three finger-length ice spikes shot towards Su Shi'er in the air with lightning speed.

The ice spikes glinted with a cold light in the air, clearly indicating their formidable power.

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